Baseball Takes Two From Reigning Skyline Champs SUNY Maritime On Sunday

Game 1 Box Score (USMMA 7 – SUNY Maritime 4)
Game 2 Box Score (USMMA 1 – SUNY Maritime 0) 

Recap, photo courtesy of  U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

BRONX, N.Y. (April 8, 2018) – On Sunday, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy baseball team swept rival SUNY Maritime in a Skyline Conference doubleheader at the Privateers' Reinhart Baseball Field. The Mariners won the opener, 7-4, and took the second game by the final of 1-0. With the victories, USMMA's record improves to 21-4 (8-2 Skyline), while Maritime falls to 14-9 (4-4 Skyline). 

Freshman Joe Raab (Edwardsburg, Mich.) earned the victory in the first game, as he moves to 6-0 on the season. He hurled seven innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on 11 hits with nine strikeouts. Junior John Kelly Jr. (Apex, N.C.) picked up his third save of the season after tossing the final two innings, both 1-2-3 frames, with three strikeouts. 

The Privateers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first innings, though only one of the runs was earned, as they took advantage of a Mariner error that started the inning. Merchant Marine tied the game up in the top of the third when junior Kyle Cunningham (Panama City Beach, Fla.) hit a bases-loaded double that plated three – freshman Jack McCann (Newark, Del.), junior Zack Winzer (Muskegon, Mich.) and senior Michael Barnes (Alexandria, Va.). 

The Mariners took the lead with a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI-single by McCann that scored fellow freshman Alex Mesaros (Pittsburgh, Pa.), and then added another when Cunningham scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. 

Maritime made it a one-run game again with a run in the bottom half of the fifth, but USMMA scored runs in back-to-back innings in the sixth and seventh on another wild pitch that allowed junior Jesse Reinebold (Granger, Ind.) to score and an RBI-walk by Barnes that plated freshman Vincenzo Alteri (Watertown, N.Y.). 

Cunningham (3-for-6) and McCann (3-for-5) both led the way offensively, while four other Mariners had two hits apiece – Barnes (2-for-5), Mesaros (2-for-4), Winzer (2-for-4) and senior Bryson Campbell (Cool, Calif.) (2-for-4). Cunningham, Campbell and Mesaros all had one stolen base each. 

For the Privateers, sophomore Travis Bruinsma suffered the loss after lasting 4.1 innings and giving up five runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts. Freshman Travis Zurita led Maritime with three RBIs after going 2-for-4, while senior Chris Deddo scored a team-best two times. 

Junior Andrew Spinnenweber (Pasadena, Md.) tossed a complete game shutout in game two, hurling all seven innings and giving up five hits and one walk, while striking out 10. He moves to 5-1 on the season. 

The only run of the game came thanks to a Privateer error in the second inning that allowed Campbell to cross the plate. The Mariners mustered just four hits in the game (Barnes, Campbell, Winzer and freshman Colin Baker (Clyde Hill, Wash.)), while Campbell and senior Jacob Sithong (Orlando, Fla.) both stole one base each. 

Maritime senior Connor Alwan had the only multi-hit effort in the game, as he went 2-for-3 with the only extra-base hit – a double in the seventh that put the tying run into scoring position with two outs. Spinnenweber was able to strike out senior Matt Costleigh in the next at bat to secure the victory. 

Senior Anthony D'Ancona was tacked with the loss for the Privateers despite pitching the complete game. He allowed one unearned run on four hits with three walks and two Ks. 

Up next, the Mariners will travel to Wayne, N.J., this Tuesday, April 10, for a non-conference contest against William Paterson University. First pitch is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. at the Pioneers' Jeff Albies Field. Live stats for the game will be available at this link.